RCB vs SRH, 6th Match at Chennai, IPL, Apr 14 2021 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11.40pm Right, Maxwell is the first overseas player to win the Man-of-the-Match award in IPL 2021. Saurabh Somani's report (which will be updated shortly) will capture all the drama. Thanks for your company and comments. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off for Venkat Raghav and Chandan Duorah. Stay safe and cheers

11.32pm: Kohli: Not as exhausted as I'm proud. It was a top game for us and probably it will get more and more tougher here. You saw it in KKR vs MI - you're never really out of the game. Those extra options made the impact performances in the middle overs. I told them if we've struggled to 149, it will be tougher for the opposition. I truly believed we could win with 150. The wicket was never a belter and tonight our execution under pressure was spot-on. The wicket kept getting tougher and tougher with the old ball. It's about getting momentum in the first six overs, but for us Maxi gave us that momentum and got us closer to 150. To be very honest, we're not over-excited with victories. We have a clear plan and backing our players. Got Harshal from Delhi for a role. It's a long tournament and you have to be professional with your job.

Maxwell, Player of the Match: It's a nice start at RCB. They gave me a specific role. To have batters around me gives me time to settle in and play with freedom - similar to the role I play at the Australian team. It's just sharing our experiences and giving myself time to assess my conditions. Kohli's good at keeping me on task. Having those guys behind me is a nice little luxury. It's my fourth IPL team and there's pressure on me to turn up and make my impact. I'm planning to get my chance at bowling, but Washington Sundar is a superstar.

11.10pm RCB claim their second successive win. SRH slip to their second successive defeat in Chennai. They had no business bungling this chase: they were 96 for 1 in the 14th over, chasing 150, with Warner having passed his half-century. However, his wicket triggered a collapse and exposed SRH's suspect middle order. Shahbaz Ahmed and Harshal Patel took advantage of it to help RCB squeak home.

Thomas: "Maxi's innings was the difference between the teams - a set batsman who stayed till the end. But Shahbaz had a great day, so I wouldn't mind him getting MoM"

Warner: A very big bitter pill to swallow. Obviously Maxi batted well, but our bowlers did well to restrict them. Look, it was just about building a partnership...and I was quite disappointed with how we went - cross-batted shots against left-arm orthodox. It just hurts. We have another three games here, the wickets are going to get better here. We need to try to take powerplay wickets and need to have one big partnership in the middle. The last four games here the team batting second should've won the game. Last night's game was an example and we played an identical game.

Lowest totals defended successfully by RCB in IPL (thanks to Sampath):

126/8 vs CSK, Chennai, 2008

133/8 vs RR, Cape Town, 2009

145/9 vs KXIP, Durban, 2009

149/8 vs SRH, Chennai, Today

Aravind: "Shahbaz could be a surprise MoM for his all-round contributions. Some quickfire runs after Padikkal's early dismissal to set the tone for the RCB batting and then key wickets at the death triggering the SRH collapse during the chase."

Vignesh: "All of the sudden Harshal look like a contender for t20 WC as Hardik back-up with this clever and dangerous slower ones ."

Bob Smith : "SRH should use Rashid Khan the batsman better. He is an all round cricketer. Maybe they can open with him and warner and he can play like narine."

Gokul Pradeep V: "How crucial was Maxwell's innings. They spent heavily on him in the auction and now he is paying them back with some remarkable performances"

Khan: "60 off 76 balls scored by all batsmen together excluding Warner and Rashid"

Sumanth: "38 runs in 39 balls by Manish Pandey.Wasted 4 important deliveries in Harshal Patel's over and that had built pressure on Warner. Wondering what kind of innings is this."

Srihari: "How is Harshal allowed to continue bowling here? Was his 2nd waist high no ball of this innings for him. What am I missing?" --- The umpires didn't think both the deliveries were dangerous

SRH need 7 off 2. Nadeem joins Kumar

Free-hit coming up for Rashid. Are SRH back in this?

Sheikh Mudasir: "SRH doing a KKR here"

How did this even come down to SRH needing 16 off the last over? Patel to bowl it

Rashid or nothing for SRH. They need 20 off nine balls

SRH need 27 off 12 balls. Siraj to bowl the penultimate over

Can Rashid and Holder bail them out?

Neil Siriwardan: "Kane 'Steady the Ship' Williamson would have been handy...."

Harsha: "HOLDER HEROICS TIME, GET SOME OF THAT ELIMINATOR 1 MAGIC"

Holder arrives with SRH needing 34 off 18 balls. Vijay will be on strike